Attachments

• The Security Council on 19 December renewed the authorization for United Nations relief agencies and their partners to use routes across conflict lines and border crossings to deliver lifesaving assistance to millions in north-west and southern Syria through Turkey and Jordan.

• The United Nations will propose to Syria’s warring parties a timeline for elections and guidance on constitutional reform in a bid to revive stalled peace talks, mediator de Mistura told the U.N.
Security Council on 19 December.

• Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies discussed cooperation relations.

• Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs confirmed that coordination with the Russian Coordination Center in Hmeimim was becoming strong… He revealed people’s return to several villages in the vicinity of Damascus would be announced… He also pointed out Hayet Tahrir AlCham (HTS) in East Ghouta had not decided to leave yet.

• Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SRCS) delivered an assistance convoy to southern rural ArRaqqa, last Saturday, provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, for distribution to 7,000 families … this was the second convoy to rural Ar-Raqqa; the first was on 29 October.

• Though elimination of ISIL in Syria has been formally declared by Russians and SDF, ISIL is still fighting SDF in large area of Euphrates’ eastern bank.

• Aid agencies warned of deteriorating conditions in the besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, where thousands of civilians are trapped with little access to food and medicine.

KEY HEALTH ISSUES

• Rumors of a possible evacuation from East Ghouta continue to circulate, but to date, no concrete movement on the ground has been observed. In the interim, the list of people from East Ghouta in need of medical evacuation continues to grow, now reaching 570+ individuals.

• The UN Security Council Resolution 2393 was adopted on 19 December renewing the provisions of UNSCR 2165 for an additional 12 months.

• No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The most recent case (by date of onset) is 21 September 2017 from Boukamal district. The total number of confirmed cVDPV2 cases remains 74. Planning continues for the second phase of the outbreak response. GPEI continues to assist the Syrian Ministry of Health in the planning process. The second phase of the outbreak response will utilize mOPV2 and IPV in two additional immunization rounds.